Synopsis
The Rhodesian Special Air Service, one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world, operated almost exclusively across borders during the long bitter bush war, undertaking deep-penetration missions against insurgents being harboured inside neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia. There were missions into Botswana too, and at one stage, the SAS was operating without benefit of passport in all three neighbouring territories at the same time. Long before the war escalated and the whole region became their battlefield, clandestine missions across the border were undertaken by SAS operators. Later, when the situation intensified, they were responsible for some of the most audacious and highly sensitive missions of the war. The writer takes the reader from the early days on the Western Desert to the formation of the Rhodesian SAS for service in Malaya, then back to Africa where the action spans the days of the Federation, the UDI era and finally the decolonization of Rhodesia by the British in 1980. This is the first book to detail the secret exploits of this elite regiment and it has been based on rare first-hand interviews with operators themselves. Some of their exploits may seem far-fetched, even impossible, but then, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is a history of high adventure and daring, courage and humanism, be it driving through the streets of a neighbouring capital, knocking out trains, bridges and installations or swooping out of the morning skies then, with the ability to hit hard and fast, attacking and taking their leave, the devastation complete, the mission accomplished. This edition, which combines the original and the subsequent pictorial editions-originally published in the mid-1980s and long since out of print-is presented in a modern, attractive, upgraded format.
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About the Author
Barbara Cole has worked as a journalist on newspapers in England, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South Africa, specialising in court, human-interest and business work. She is now based in Durban, where she continues to contribute to newspapers and magazines. Barbara worked as a High Court reporter for the Rhodesia Herald at the start of the bush war and saw many an insurgent, albeit from the safety of the Press bench. Later, when she worked for the publications department of the Ministry of Information, her job involved distributing dreaded wartime communiqués from Combined Operations Headquarters telling of the latest incidents and casualties. Then, having relocated to South Africa at the end of the war, she spent several years researching and compiling the story of the Rhodesian SAS, one of the most fascinating stories to come out of the war. She managed to track down hundreds of SAS men and get them to tell their experiences. The fact that secrecy is a way of life with the SAS makes this all the more remarkable.
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